As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
One type of information handling system is a so called modular information handling system which may also be referred to as a modular server, blade server or brick server. Typically, blade servers utilize a midplane to allow multiple modular server cards or “blades” to be associated within a single computer chassis. The multiple blades are then interconnected via the midplane and typical share a common power supply and other resources such as network interface cards and management cards. Each blade typically includes an independent processor and memory.
One problem associated with the use of modular servers is that each blade produces its own independent keyboard video and mouse signal (KVM). However, the blade itself does not allow a user to access the necessary ports to communicate KVM signals as it plugs directly into a midplane within the chassis and does not have KVM connectors. Existing systems utilize multiple KVM ports associated with the midplane to communicate the KVM signals of each blade.
Another problem is that a keyboard video and mouse (KVM) port, Network Interface Card (NIC), COM port and power must be connected through a midplane. Presently there is no functionality for these four sub systems unless a midplane is present. Accordingly, a user desiring to operate or test a single blade will be required to utilize a system board such as a midplane to access the functionality of the blade.